August 08, 2008
California court reverses itself, declares home schooling legal
By Adelle M. Banks

A California court Friday (Aug. 8) reversed its previous ruling and decided that most forms of home schooling are legal.

August 08, 2008
Update: Poultry plant reinstates Labor Day with Muslim holiday
By Mallika Rao

Responding to intense criticism, a Tyson Foods plant in Tennessee that deemed a Muslim holy day one of its eight paid holidays has changed its stance.

August 07, 2008
COMMENTARY: China, the Olympics and the Bible
By Dick Staub

"Everything you can say about China is true ... somewhere in China!" Such was the insight offered by my 90-year-old friend, Rosa, who with her sister, the late Ruth Graham Bell (Billy Graham's wife), was raised in China. The observation is timely and useful as the Olympics are upon us and we Westerners are trying to understand the enigma that is China. Nowhere are words more important, and the Chinese more enigmatic, than on the issue of religion and the Bible.

(Dick Staub is the author of "The Culturally Savvy Christian" and the host of The Kindlings Muse (http://www.thekindlings.com). His blog can be read at www.dickstaub.com)

"It just goes to show that God is universal." Bush said. "No state, man or woman should fear the influence of loving religion."

Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Wichita diocese sued over English-only policy

Three hispanic familes who say that a Catholic school's "english-only" policy violates their freedom of speech will have their day in federal court, today. The archdiocese of Wichita, Kan. argues that the school's policy was established for disciplinary--not discriminatory--reasons. The AP has the full report here.

Buddhism gets political, sometimes violent, over Tibet
By Lucky Severson

All eyes are on China as it plays host to the 2008 Olympic games, and for the moment, earlier unrest over China's treatment of Tibet has largely moved off center stage -- much to Beijing's relief.

Yet the decades-long tussle over Tibet continues to color the games, and some wonder what will happen after the Olympic torch is extinguished and the world goes home. Will the games have done anything to soften China's approach to Tibet?

The run-up to the games made many nervous...

Read on

JESUS PORTRAITS A black Christ is a source of reflection during Bible study at Live Ministries Church of Recovery in Cleveland. See RNS-JESUS-PORTRAITS, transmitted Jan. 5, 2007.

Car bomb explodes in Iraq; 6 dead

Story Highlights
* Six people dead, 10 wounded after car bomb explodes in Baghdad
* Bomb was meant for Shiite pilgrims, according to Iraqi official
* Pilgrims were heading to religious festival

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A car bomb targeting Shiite pilgrims killed six people and wounded 10 others Saturday morning, an Iraqi interior ministry official said.

The attack happened in northeastern Baghdad's Shaab district, which is mostly Shiite, the official said.

The pilgrims were heading to the city of Karbala to take part in the Shaabaniya religious festival, the official said.

August 15, 2008
Evangelicals warn McCain on running mate choice
By Tim Murphy

WASHINGTON -- With both presidential candidates set to share the stage at the Rev. Rick Warren's California megachurch on Saturday (Aug. 16), conservative evangelical leaders warned Friday that Sen. John McCain risks losing the election if he chooses a running mate who supports abortion rights.

Hindu women answering call to priesthood
By Margaret Ramirez / Chicago Tribune

As more Hindu men enter more lucrative, secular professions, Shashi Tandon and a handful of Hindu women in America have begun performing priestly duties as a way of passing their faith to the next generation.

Monday, August 18, 2008
Saddleback-gate

Did John McCain know ahead of time what questions he'd be asked at Saturday' Saddleback forum?

The internets are buzzing this morning over reports that the Arizona senator may not have actually been in a "cone of silence" while the Rev. Rick Warren interviewed Barack Obama. Both candidates were asked identical questions, but Obama went first after a coin-flip.

The New York Times reports that McCain was en route to the event in his motorcade during the first round of questioning-a fact that came as a surprise to Warren on Sunday. Read the full story here.
Whether or not McCain could have benefited from advance knowledge is unclear, as the forum could at times have just as easily doubled as an interview for an entry-level managerial position at the neighborhood Popeye's franchise (for example, "What's the most gut-wrenching decisions you've ever had to make?")

But at the very least, it gives us an excuse to bring back this "debate-gate" of yester-year, which remains the most exciting thing ever to happen at a presidential debate.

August 18, 2008
Evangelical Christians converge on Capital to witness for moral issues
By Tim Murphy

WASHINGTON -- Tens of thousands of evangelical Christians converged on the National Mall here Saturday (Aug. 16) to highlight moral issues before the fall presidential election with a day of fasting, prayer and music.

August 18, 2008
Pope calls for aid to victims in Georgian war
By Francis X. Rocca

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI called for the establishment of "humanitarian corridors" between South Ossetia and the rest of Georgia, to facilitate aid to victims of the conflict between Georgia and Russia.

Race for `white space’ pits churches vs. techies
By Mallika Rao

WASHINGTON -- A race for an invisible prize is pitting America's largest churches against the giants of technology.

At stake are unlicensed television airwaves, or "white spaces," the fuzzy channels between one network TV station and the next...

Read on

Thursday, August 21, 2008
Strang drops DNC benediction plans

There's been an update since we blogged about the announced lineup of people giving invocations and benedictions at next week's Democratic National Convention. Cameron Strang, editor of Relevant magazine, has decided not to give the benediction on Monday after all, OrlandoSentinel.com reports.

"If my praying at the DNC was perceived as showing favoritism and incorrectly labeling me as endorsing one candidate over the other, then I need to have pause,'' Strang said.

Convention staff confirmed the change of plans and said author Don Miller will replace him. ChristianityToday.com has covered the developments, too, noting that Miller is most known for his book, "Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality."

source

Thursday, August 21, 2008
Catholic politicians and abortion (cont’d)

If anyone thought that moving to the Vatican would silence former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke on the abortion-Communion question ... it hasn't.

August 22, 2008
World Council of Churches marks 60th anniversary
By Adelle M. Banks

The World Council of Churches will mark its 60th anniversary Saturday (Aug. 23) at a ceremony in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at the same church where its founding assembly took place.

August 21, 2008
COMMENTARY: The futile search for Billy Graham’s successor
By Dick Staub

(UNDATED) Having spent his life in the limelight, Billy Graham's final days are being lived out at his mountain retreat in relative seclusion, while down below there is a clamor to crown his successor. The very diversity, and frankly incompatibility, of the names mentioned thus far raise an important question: Just what are the qualifications for Billy's successor? Certainly Graham's most basic identifier is as an evangelist, a preacher of the good news. He's a genuine cultural media celebrity, the "president's pastor," and a global statesman welcomed by heads of state. But who wants this "next Billy Graham" anyway? It seems a sad commentary on a culture when the best it can hope for is a new version of someone who fit the unique needs of a previous culture. Graham himself was more interested in perpetuating a brighter future than in a nostalgia for the past.

(Dick Staub is the author of "The Culturally Savvy Christian" and the host of The Kindlings Muse (http://www.thekindlings.com). His blog can be read at www.dickstaub.com)

August 25, 2008
Catholic Biden draws praise and criticism from faithful
By Adelle M. Banks

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Joseph Biden's new role as vice presidential running mate immediately revives a debate over whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should receive Communion. The senator chosen by Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama regularly attends a Greenville, Del., Catholic church and -- while disagreeing with his church's stance on abortion -- is known for supporting other key tenets of the Catholic faith. "He's very committed to helping working-class folks and poor people, and that's what Catholic social teaching is all about," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, senior fellow of the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington.

Source

August 26, 2008 -- Updated 1511 GMT (2311 HKT)

Wife blasted for keeping Edwards affair secret

RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- Two weeks after a devastating revelation sent her husband into political exile, Elizabeth Edwards isn't getting the steady sympathy usually afforded to a woman scorned.

nstead, she's faced criticism from dedicated Democrats who think she was too willing to keep the affair a secret to help John Edwards' political ambitions, as well as her own.

At a time when she was expected to hold a prominent role in pushing an agenda of improved health care for Americans, she stands silent. While fellow Democrats converge in Denver, Colorado, to nominate Barack Obama for president, Edwards remains in seclusion in North Carolina.

It seems an odd way to treat a woman with incurable cancer wronged by a cheating husband, the latest in a series of deep hardships in life that includes the death of a teenage son.

But some former followers have questioned the recklessness of keeping the affair under wraps even though her husband -- a former U.S. senator, two-time presidential candidate and the 2004 vice presidential nominee -- said he confessed the affair in 2006, before the campaign began in earnest the next year.

"I think she's complicit," said Brad Crone, a Raleigh-based Democratic consultant. "Obviously, she knew. While she's the victim, she clearly didn't stand in the way of the cover-up."

Read on

August 26, 2008
Catholic bishops take Pelosi to task on abortion
By Tim Murphy

Prominent Catholic prelates are accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., of misrepresenting church doctrine on abortion, saying Catholic law on the issue has been settled for centuries.

Pope On a Rope
Every one has been talking about it for years and finally it's arrived, an impressive and lifelike representation of the Pope in soap.

Specifications

Bath time just got more interesting! Have a daily audience with your Pope Soap-on-a-Rope and wash your most stubborn sins away, it's that simple.

The Pope is sculptured from 100% pure white soap. Included is a high quality thick loop of luxurious rope attached to the Pope's head.

Just scrub away with the sacred suds and you'll soon be gleaming with goodness and ready for another day of sinning!

Pope Soap-on-a-Rope features

• Adds more purpose to bathing

• Soap in the shape of a Pope

• 100% real white soap

• thick loop of luxurious rope attached